'America's Got Talent': Jonathan Goodwin Accident Severity Supported by Troubling 911 Call
The 911 call for America's Got Talent: Extreme stuntman Jonathan Goodwin's horrific accident reveals just how close to death he was after he fell about 70 feet from the air while filming Thursday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Goodwin, who previously appeared on America's Got Talent in 2020, fell to the ground after two swinging cars on either side of him collided together, sandwiching him between them. He missed an air mattress on the ground, hitting his head. Sources told TMZ some people on the set thought he was dead.
At the beginning of the 911 call to Henry County, Georgia dispatch, a woman can be heard asking for a tourniquet before she asks the dispatchers how quickly medical responders can get to the speedway. "We are at the Atlanta Motor Speedway at the America's Got Talent filming location," the caller explained, according to The Sun. "We had a man suspended from a cable with cars that were supposed to slam into each other, and he didn't drop in time and they slammed into him."
The caller said Goodwin's condition at the time was "agonal and posturing" and appeared to have a "neuro injury." The caller also noted that some Henry County Fire Department personnel already at the scene were helping Goodwin. "If they come in the main gate of Atlanta Motor Speedway, turn in right, we are in front of the grandstands where the cranes have the cars suspended," the caller told the dispatcher. The caller noted Goodwin still had a pulse. TMZ also published the 911 call audio.
The accident happened when Goodwin was trying a stunt where he was suspended upside down in the air while wearing a straightjacket. Two cars were also suspended on either side of him, swinging towards him. Goodwin had to escape the jacket before the two cars collided, and would then fall on an air mattress. Something went wrong though, and the cars smashed together while Goodwin was still between them. The vehicles exploded, and Goodwin fell to the ground, missing the mattress. Goodwin was responsive by the time he was airlifted to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery, sources told TMZ Friday.
A Henry County Sheriff's Department spokesperson told The Sun Goodwin also suffered leg injuries. "He suffered severe injuries to his legs and several lacerations, and was airlifted to Grady Hospital," the spokesperson said. "He was transported in serious condition but is currently alive, alert and well. There are no plans for a criminal investigation at this time and any further investigations would be done by AGT."
Production on AGT: Extreme was postponed through at least the weekend. The show features AGT stars Terry Crews and Simon Cowell, as well as Nikki Bella and Travis Pastrana as judges. Goodwin is a Welsh daredevil who also appeared in Discovery's One Way Out and How Not to Become Shark Bait. He even had his own U.K. series called The Incredible Mr. Goodwin and performed a "buried alive" stunt on Britain's Got Talent in 2019. When he appeared on AGT last year, he performed a stunt where he had to escape an intricate harness while a ring of fire came closer to him and his head was locked in a cube, blocking his vision.